National Vertical Marathon 2012!

A different experience by the "Mileage Couple"! :

I posted this as my status in Facebook “Lifts and escalators are invented for a reason. No more vertical marathons!”
And I truly stand by it. Ok fine, maybe no more vertical marathons till ….next year.

The coach and I took part in the Lover’s Challenge category in the National Vertical Marathon organized by NTU. It was my first ever vertical marathon. The only other sets of stairs that I climb daily are the 18 steps in our home and those leading to my office. But my office is on the 2nd level so they don’t really help much. I do try to intensify the “training” by running up the steps in my 3 inch stilettos.

I knew it will be a painful experience having tried to do 3 sets of 21 levels at my sis’s apartment few months prior. That was my one and only so-called serious training for vertical marathon. I was just hoping that being quite a regular runner, I would not suffer major cramps on my way up. Trust me, it’s a whole lot of different bio-mechanisms engaged as compared to running.

Fast forward to race day. I was so glad the number of levels to climb was lowered to 40. We thought our start time was 5pm but it was actually at 3.23pm. And to think I had just wolfed down a plate of Phad Thai with heaps of chili padi at 2pm. I was having major burps and tummy burn. I distracted myself from the discomfort by immersing myself in the race atmosphere. As with any new race experience, every sight and sound was a fresh feeling.

We started off in batches and when it was nearing our turn, the adrenaline was building up even though we were treating it as a fun race and couple bonding time. We had to run a short distance before we commence the climb and I was still thinking ‘not bad, legs feel good’. That deceptive thought vanished immediately once I set foot on the very first step.

I’ve never sworn so much in a race before. And I really mean out loud. 5 levels up and my thighs were already burrrnnnniiinnnggg…. I simply could not comprehend how some participants could join more than 1 category on the same day and race up those horrible latic acid inducing steps many times over. Coach’s encouragement kept me going (and swearing) though i must admit that at times I did get irritated by his encouragement because it’s universal knowledge that he’s not suffering as much as me. For him, his heart probably wasn’t even ticking at more than 60 per minute.

Upon reaching the final level, we had to run another 70m or so and cross the line hand-in-hand. My legs were jelly-fied by then. If Coach wasn’t holding my hand I probably would have crossed the line on all fours.

I wasn’t happy with my timing at all which I thought was disastrous as compared to the Open category’s times. Coach’s remark to me that ‘even 14 year old students climb faster than you’ was simply rubbing salt into the open wound and hammering my already deflated ego. Utterly despondent and dejected, I turned to my trusty recipe for some good cheer- desserts! I didn’t think we will emerge top 3 so I dragged Coach to have desserts at Chinatown instead of waiting for the results.

By some stroke of good luck, we received a call from the organizers that we emerged 3rd. That was a little mood booster but it could not deny the fact that I am still much slower than secondary school girls. The prizes were decent and we probably now have a half year supply of shower gel to use.

Conclusion? Vertical marathon is painful and definitely needs specific training for it. Amidst all the profanities from me, it’s definitely good fun especially when it’s accomplished with your other half.

Too bad there aren’t any photos to show as I too dazed by the going round and round to stand still for any pose.

By Michelle~